Hewlett-packard Company

Melissa L Monty

Paul Albitz

Yuen-Yee Joanna Pang

A facsimile machine is provided with only two receive modes: 'Auto Answer' and as 'Manual'. In the Auto Answer mode the device will automatically receive incoming facsimiles and in the Manual mode it will not. The Auto Answer mode allows the user to automatically receive facsimile calls on either a dedicated facsimile line or a line shared with any other receiving device such as a telephone or answering machine. Since several receive modes have been collapsed into a single mode that may be used for all configurations, the user simply controls the behavior he desires by turning Auto Answer mode ON or OFF (i.e., Auto Answer mode must be ON for the facsimile to eavesdrop, or to answer the call when nothing else answers), with Auto Answer OFF being equivalent to Manual mode ON, and vice versa. In Auto Answer mode, 'eavesdropping' for a CNG sequence is enabled for all incoming calls answered by another device, and 'silent detection' is enabled for at least those devices which are connected in series with ('downstream' from) the facsimile. In order to support users who are accustomed to change the receive mode setting each time they receive a facsimile, the facsimile device is preferably provided with a dedicated button on the front panel that requires only a single press to switch the device between Auto Answer mode and to Manual mode and an LED or other indicator device to alert the user when the unit is set to Auto Answer mode.

Facsimile device with user-friendly automatic receive mode

A facsimile machine which may be successfully operated by a user, using a dialing mode with which the user is already familiar. Programed dialing, monitor dialing, and speed dialing are integrated in a way that does not artificially constrain the user to only certain combinations of commands. Users who are dialing through a PBX or placing the call through a credit card company, may dial the call interactively using one or more string of numbers stored in memory along with numbers entered directly from the keypad, with the user receiving audible feedback in the form of dial tones, beeps and tones, and recorded verbal instructions. Various international dialing functions such as Mercury are stored and accessed in the same way the user would access other numbers stored in a speed dial or one-touch dial memory location. The various dialing modes and functions may be cascaded, whereby the user may access one speed dial number (or special function such as Mercury) and then continue to dial additional speed-dial numbers or digits from the front panel keypad. The number of buttons on the front panel is kept to a minimum, with multiple functions being assigned to a common button in optimal functional groupings whereby the user may readily locate, identify, and use all available functions, using a conventional keypad and two dedicated front panel buttons: 'Start' and 'Speed Dial', with appropriate messages being displayed on the front panel. In particular, the Start button is used both to cause the machine to go off-hook and to dial any previously speed dialing sequences, as well as to accept a displayed speed dial entry, while the Speed Dial button is used to invoke the speed dial function and to select between single and double digit entries and to scroll through successive entries.

Growing community of inventors

Poway, CA, United States of America

Melissa L Monty